P&G Beauty Decreasing Use of DEP, Triclosan

Posted: August 29, 2013

Scott Heid, PhD, of P&G Communications, shared two ingredient use updates for P&G that reflect previous decisions the company made several years ago—to phase out the use of phthalates and triclosan in its products.

First, while the only phthalate P&G used in its product formulations is safe (DEP), the company recognized the potential for people to confuse DEP with other phthalates that are banned from certain product types. As P&G wants people to also feel safe about using its products and not have any misperceptions about the ingredients it uses, the company decided to remove DEP from its products as well. And recently, P&G reached a milestone—70% of P&G Beauty products are currently phthalate-free, and the company is on track to have all its products phthalate-free by 2014.

Second, triclosan is also known to be safe through numerous studies and regulatory reviews. However, there are ongoing discussions about how effective it is for reducing bacteria compared to regular soap. And because P&G has, in the past, limited its use of triclosan in its personal care products, it has now decided to eliminate it from all P&G products by 2014.

For more information on these ingredients and P&G Beauty's approach to ingredient-related decisions, please visit this newly launched section of PG.com. This section includes a new two-minute video and more information on the safety of P&G's product ingredients.

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